Charlie Kirk assassination reactions

In the day since a yet-unknown sniper assassinated far-right activist Charlie Kirk, people across the political spectrum have reacted with anger and horror. Most--at least, from the center-right to the center-left--decried the violence itself, even when they found Kirk's politics reprehensible:

• Former presidents Biden, Obama, Bush, and Clinton soundly condemned the killing, with Obama posting, "We don't yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy."
• Former US Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL): "Elected officials and public figures should set the tone by rejecting inflammatory language, by calming rather than exciting our worst instincts. Media outlets and online platforms must take seriously their power to either inflame or cool tensions. And each of us, in our conversations at home and online, has the chance to model a politics that is fierce but never violent. Democracy is not passive. It asks every citizen to participate, to stay engaged, to keep faith that peaceful change is still possible even when it feels slow or frustrating."
• David Graham in The Atlantic: "[E]employing force is actually an admission of defeat. A person who resorts to violence has concluded that he cannot change the terms of debate with words or arguments. Might may not make right, but it can end the conversation."
• Comedy writer Jeff Maurer doesn't think it was funny: "People who don’t appreciate the awfulness of this event aren’t just lacking empathy — they’re naive. They apparently don’t realize that political violence pushes us backwards on the civil society evolutionary timeline. People on the right who seem to be steeling themselves for a second civil war are making the same mistake, except that the far right hears “go backwards” and thinks “great idea”. But anyone who values the hard-earned progress that humanity has made separating political power from physical power should view this as a tragedy on a human and a societal level. This is the type of shit that we just don’t do anymore, and let’s hope that we’re not about to enter an era in which that statement is less true."
• Stephen Colbert had a similar response: "I’m old enough to personally remember the political violence of the 1960s, and I hope it is obvious to everyone in America that political violence does not solve any of our political differences. Political violence only leads to more political violence, and I pray with all my heart that this is the abhorrent action of a mad man and not a sign of things to come."

Unfortunately, the difference between centrists and the extremes has followed a predictable and depressing pattern, starting with the psychologically-damaged and demented man heading our government.

• The OAFPOTUS went with projection and vitriol: "For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now."
• Josh Marshall points out that the OAFPOTUS may have the attribution backwards: "Right-wing violence, both of an organized paramilitary sort and by radicalized loners, has become such a scourge in recent years that on the extremes you hear voices for things like armed versions of Antifa and the like as some sort of counter. ... Fascists do civil violence better than civic democrats. It’s a foundational element of their political philosophy. It’s the verdict of logic and history."
• Jen Rubin takes right-wingers to task for only expressing outrage when someone from their side of the aisle is targeted: "Sadly, [the OAFPOTUS] and the MAGA troops reserve outrage only when Republicans are targeted (compare the near-silence when Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was targeted, the mockery when Paul Pelosi was nearly killed, and the snide remarks when two Minnesota Democrats were assassinated). As we saw yesterday, Democrats condemn political violence whoever is targeted, as such acts have no place in a democracy. Nor does selective outrage or scapegoating broad swaths of the country for violent attacks."
• Jonathan Chait also calls out the OAFPOTUS for failing, once again, to be the President of the United States: "Every political movement in history, including the most bloodthirsty, has condemned political violence by its opponents. The only real test is whether you also oppose political violence by your allies. This is a test Trump has repeatedly failed."
• Other far-right voices called for more violence and retribution: "We are up against demonic forces from the pit of Hell,” wrote commentator and podcaster Matt Walsh on X. “This is existential. A fight for our own existence and the existence of our country."

Kirk's assassination was reprehensible. As much as I wanted to see him discredited, ridiculed, exiled, and bankrupted, he didn't deserve to die.

Neither did the school kids shot in Colorado yesterday while all this was going on. I hope their stories don't get lost in the noise.